The Waters of Venen
by The Misty Jewel
Summary: (Not related to The Waters of Mars) People keep disappearing in the water on a planet called Venen. But when Clara disappears, will she want to be found? Drama/Hurt/Comfort, but also Adventure.
1. Chapter 1

**Chapter 1- Big Problems**

Clara sighed. Her life was stinking right now. Angie and Artie were driving her up the wall this week, probably because Angie was having exams and was taking it out on anything that moved. Thus, Clara had had to break up so many fights she couldn't count how many.

Not to mention that this suddenly made her the _bad guy_, and so both had ceased speaking with her, the last words they told her being "I hate you!" which was typical of Angie to say anyway. Typical, but it still hurt.

Clara looked out the window. She was having a lot of trouble lately. Somehow she'd gotten all her friends or family she knew angry with her, although she wasn't exactly sure how, and now she was basically dealing with the repercussions of something she'd never realized she'd done.

Clara sighed again. What would it take to get her life back on track? She continued to look out the window. Angie and Artie were at home today, so she didn't have to look after them, which meant that the only thing she had to do was ponder her life's problems, which didn't help any.

There was only one thing that she looked forward to today. And as that unearthly sound filled the room, she smiled. He was on time, at least.

she

"Clara!" The Doctor shouted from outside. "Clara, come on! I'm not going to wait all day!"

"Yes, yes, I'm coming!" Clara shouted back. "Coming!" She almost skipped from joy, but she managed to contain herself.

"Well actually, I _could_ wait all day, because I could just go to the end of the day right now." The Doctor pondered as Clara came out to greet him. Just like him to split hairs like that.

"Where are we going today?" She asked, not wanting to waste any time.

"Oh I don't know." He smiled. "Let's just let the Tardis drop us off randomly. How's that?"

"Fine." Clara shrugged. She honestly didn't care where they went. _Or when,_ she added.

The Doctor skittered back inside in a way that only he could. He set about with the controls and gizmos that Clara didn't understand in the slightest.

Finally, he came up to a big switch. "Well," He smiled, "Here goes! Geronimo!" He pulled it down hard, and the Tardis was filled with the ethereal sound of it's engines.

Clara made sure to hang on to the railing. She'd had bad experiences when she didn't.

"Oh! Seems like she knows a good place to take us!" The Doctor exclaimed, hanging on to the railing as well. The ship shook and spun like only it could, and finally seemed to land with a very pronounced thud. "I guess we're here!" The Doctor said lividly.

"I guess." Clara took a shaky step towards the door. She'd never gotten used to this kind of travel.

"Well come on, then!" He was already standing outside, not waiting for anyone. "We haven't got all day!"

"You just said that you _could _wait all day, actually." Clara muttered as she stepped onto the grass outside. "Is this Earth?" She asked. It looked like Earth, that was for sure, except there was a huge lake out in front of them.

"Oh no no no, don't be silly. This is Venen!" The Doctor cried out. "Wonderful place, just absolutely wonderful. No pollution, no poison, no nothing but friendly locals and interesting wildlife."

Clara surveyed the scene. it was beautiful, all right. A bright little sun was just in the middle of the sky, and the clouds drifting by looked like dollops of candy floss. The lake shimmered. The green hills stretched on, seemingly endless. Clara thought she spotted a village nearby.

"But that's not right then..." The Doctor's voice trailed off.

"What isn't right?" Clara couldn't see how anything could be wrong here.

"The Tardis brings me where there's a problem I need to fix. As far as I know, there are never _any_ problems on Venen. So why are we here?" The Doctor scrambled back inside. "This is not good." he whispered.

"What's not good?" Clara was getting edgy now. She hated it when The Doctor was upset, because it was usually a very legitimate reason for her to be upset.

"Well, when a planet doesn't have a problem for the entire time it's existed - which is a long time, let me tell you - when it actually gets a problem..." he trailed off.

"What?" Clara snapped. "Tell me, Doctor. I'm not going to die from knowing."

"Well, when a planet that _just doesn't _have problems _gets_ a problem, it's usually huge."

"Huge as in what?"

"As in, we have a very big problem on our hands. As in very deadly, or very had to solve, or very very difficult to understand." The Doctor listed off, then smiled that manic smile of his. "Let's get started!"

Clara followed after him, quietly dreading what was in store for them.

"Ah! There!" The Doctor started to walk to the edge of the lake, seeing a man there by the edge. It seemed he was going to get a drink of water. "Maybe he can shed some light on all of this." The Doctor told Clara.

"Yeah, okay." Clara decided she wanted to know what was so bad as fast as possible, so this seemed a good course of action.

They walked up to the man. He was dressed in some baggy deerskin pants, with a shirt made of deerskin as well. "Primitive, but we should be able to communicate." The Doctor whispered. Clara just nodded.

As they walked up, the man bent down to drink a sip of water. The Doctor interrupted him. "Hello!"

The man looked up sharply. "What do you want?" He sounded angry.

"We just want to talk." The Doctor looked taken aback. "They shouldn't be an angry species. That's what made this place so nice, they're welcoming usually. Something's off." The Doctor told Clara.

The man continued to stare at them. He took a drink of water, and froze.

"What? What is it?" The Doctor asked him.

It seemed like he was having a fit. His head jerked slightly, and he seemed to be biting his lip hard enough to draw blood. Finally, it seemed like the fit was over, and The Doctor was just about to start back up again when the man _jumped into the water._

This by itself was not all that spectacular. The lake, despite it being the edge, where it should be shallow, was quite deep where he jumped in. So he completely submerged, and that was when it got surprising. Because the man, the native that shouldn't be able to do this, just _disappeared._

Clara was shocked. She was about to dive in, try to find him, when The Doctor held her back. "What?" She asked. "He might be drowning! I might save him!"

"Let's not touch that water, Clara." The Doctor said slowly, guiding her away from the lake's edge. "I have a feeling the last thing we want to do is go anywhere near where he just went."

**A/N- Well, how bad is it? I'm new to FanFiction, to be honest. This is the third story I've written, and the first Doctor Who FanFiction that I've made. So I'm completely and utterly open to constructive criticism. Heaven knows, I need it. So, I'll ask you to review, comment, criticize, whatever, and tell me in general what I did wrong. Reviews are welcome! Keep reading and writing!**

**-Misty**


	2. Chapter 2

**Chapter 2- A Village**

The Doctor took Clara by the shoulders and guided her back up the slope, away from the lake.

"What's wrong with that water, Doctor?" Clara asked numbly, still not understanding how the man had disappeared.

"I don't know, Clara. I don't know." He shook his head as he said this. "I spotted a village over that hill." He pointed up to the gentle crest of a small hill. "Let's go there and see if we can't find answers."

Clara walked silently for a while, until she finally blurted out "Is he dead?"

"What?" The Doctor asked. "No no no, don't be silly, he could be many different things, not just dead. For all I know he's down there in the water eating ice cream! I just don't know!" The Doctor said, throwing a hand up into the air. "But I have a feeling it isn't that."

Clara looked at him. "Somethings wrong. We've dealt with far worse than this, and you're already-"

"Yes, yes, I know." The Doctor cut her off. "I'm sorry. It's just.." He trailed off, then started again when Clara gave him the you'd-better-tell-me-or-else look. "It's just water annoys me sometimes, like now. You can try hard as you please, but water is fantastic at hiding things away from sight or suspicion, or even people who spend their lives trying to find something in it's clutches. So when I said this was going to be big and bad, I wasn't exaggerating." He sighed. "That man we saw might be miles away, at the bottom of the lake, I don't know. That, or he could be hovering right below the surface."

"Ah." Clara understood his behavior now. "You hate it because it makes you feel helpless."

The Doctor shot her a dirty look. "I do not feel 'helpless'." He said, annoyed. "I just feel... set back a bit. I'm not helpless."

Clara smiled. he was as protective as ever, so he definitely wasn't entirely out of it. "Well then, what are we going to do at that village?" She asked, skipping the topic and jumping straight ahead to plans.

"We'll just see if anything odd's happening. You know me. I never really have a plan." The Doctor said warmly. "Plans are overrated anyway."

"Overrated." Clara looked at him in disbelief. "You think plans are overrated? No wonder you time lords have to have twelve lives."

The Doctor opened his mouth for a cutting remark, but Clara was saved as they got to the top of the hill, and therefore, the village. Primitive huts with thatched roofs decorated the plain, with little tongues of smoke curling into the blue where fires had been lit. The people hurried about, busy, but the village seemed quiet. Much more quiet than it should.

The Doctor strode ahead, and came up to the first person he met. An old woman washing some clothing looked up when he stopped in front of her. "Yes?" She asked hesitantly.

"Hello, I'm The Doctor." The Doctor said this like it was everything. "Has there been anything odd, lately? Anything at all?" He asked her quietly.

She looked at him like he was mad, which Clara supposed he kind of was, and then she went back to washing the clothes.

The Doctor sighed. he went up to another person, this time a man carrying some fruit in a basket. "Hello. I'm The Doctor, I'm here to help." When the man made no move to say anything, The Doctor continued. "Has there been anything, anything odd happening around here?"

The man looked quizzical, then unsure, then tense, and Clara didn't even pay attention to the rest of the emotions crossing his face. It was clear he was hesitant. The man ushered them to the outskirts of the village, where he looked around nervously, then began to talk.

"Who are you?" He asked slowly.

"I told you, I'm The Doctor." The Doctor took out his badge and flashed it at the man. The man blinked, and his eyebrows shot up in surprise.

"Okay. Well, people here are getting ill tempered, even though there is no reason. We are angry even when we would be happy normally. It seems like a demon is making us unhappy, even when we shouldn't be." The man looked around. "You can understand why no one talks about this."

"Yes..." The Doctor trailed off, signifying that he'd gone somewhere else in his mind. After a few seconds of pause, followed by him opening his mouth to say something, but nothing coming out, he finally said "Thanks." and clapped the man on the shoulder.

The man left without a word.

"Is it a demon, then? A water demon?" Clara asked, unsure.

"Oh, no. Not a demon, don't be silly. That's their explanation, since they haven't discovered modern science quite yet." The Doctor said busily, making it clear there were other things on his mind. "No, something is making them feel sad, or angry. Not a demon, no no no, but what?"

Clara looked about. While The Doctor's mind was rushing about, and contemplating a vast number of incredibly complicated ideas, she just looked about, and she thought, and suddenly she thought of something.

"What is it? What? What could possibly-"

"Doctor?" Clara interrupted. "It seems to affect the whole village. That means it's something in common with all of them, right?"

The Doctor nodded, catching on.

"Now, I don't know if this is true or not, but the only things they all have in common, just by looking at them, is that they all breathe the same air, and drink the same..." Her eyes widened. "...water."

The Doctor raised his eyebrows, surprised. "That's why I have someone with me!" He smiled. "I miss the obvious!"

Clara smiled. "Sometimes, yes, you do miss the most painfully obvious things."

"Like when?" He asked, challengingly.

"Like last week in which the case of what was making the settlements on that one planet sick could be solved simply by seeing that they ate everything raw." Clara said.

"Pish posh. Some species of alien get sick if they eat things _cooked_. How was I supposed to know?" The Doctor waved a hand.

"Because they got sick immediately after eating?" Clara tried. "Or wait, because they only got sick the nights they ate meat? Or perhap-"

"Alright, I get your point." The Doctor smiled. "You just can't stop from proving a point, can you?"

"Nope. I just can't." Clara said, and knew it was the truth.

**A/N- I feel like I'm missing something this chapter, and I could have made it better, but I don't know what, and it's driving me mad! Anyway, tell me what I did wrong, since I'm pretty sure there's something! Comments, reviews, constructive criticism, it all makes my day, you guys!**

**Also, I might not be updating in a while. I just got into a challenge LA class apparently, and that class had a summer reading schedule, which contains seven books, and they give me three weeks to read each, and do all sorts of activities with them. So anyway, yeah, I'll be busy. This may or may not happen, because they might pity me. It's all unclear, and I'm kind of confused on it too, so don't be expecting, but don't be surprised. XD Complicated, I know.**

**Anyway, thanks for reading, and as always, reviews are lovely!**

**-Misty**


	3. Chapter 3

**Chapter 3- Water**

They went back to the Tardis, and The Doctor began rummaging around in some room Clara had been unaware about. "Doctor, what are you looking for?" She asked tiredly.

"Oh! I don't know! I'll know when I find it!" He shouted out at her.

Clara looked in, and found him digging around in a pile of who knew what, so she resigned herself to leaning against the side of the Tardis, waiting. And waiting. She sighed. She'd just decided to go sit down on the steps because it seemed like she'd be there a long time when The Doctor burst back out carrying what looked to be a pole with a measuring cup tied to it.

"What is that?" Clara voiced the obvious question.

"Why, it's a pole, Clara. I thought you always noticed the obvious things." He hurried outside, motioning for Clara to follow. "Come on, come on!"

"I mean, what's it for?" Clara asked, rewording her question.

"Oh, so we can get a sample of the water without touching it. If the water's what's causing all this, you definitely don't want to touch it." He hurried to the side of the lake, but stayed a good meter away from the water. "And extend..." He said, mostly to himself.

The cup at the end of the pole dipped rather precariously into the water, but eventually righted itself, and The Doctor brang it back in. Clara moved over to pick up the cup, but he stopped her. "Remember, there's water on the outside of the cup as well." He said quietly. "So let's not touch that either."

They brought it back to the Tardis, and The Doctor began his frenzied tests and whatnot. Clara just stood to the side, knowing she'd be more burden than help. After maybe an hour, still nothing. Clara was growing tired, and The Doctor (For obvious reasons.) was growing frustrated.

"I don't get it! There has to be something!" He said angrily. "Think!" He looked about ready to rip his hair out.

"Doctor, why don't you take a break? It's been almost an hour." Clara said tiredly. He'd been at it nonstop for the time. She was fairly sure that although they had twelve lives, Time Lords weren't entirely invincible. "Surely you've done all you can."

"But I haven't." The Doctor said, stressed. "There are millions of tests for a simple drop of water. We need to narrow down the symptoms. That'll help me figure out what's causing it. Then it should be easy."

Clara nodded. "Okay. The symptoms seem to include resentment, anger, sadness, those negative emotions we saw in the villagers, yes?"

"Yes, I suppose. The villagers could be negative simply because of the strange going on's, but I suppose that's it. After all, it fits everything." The Doctor said distractedly.

"Well if that's not enough proof, further proof would be the man we met at the lake." Clara went on, looking at The Doctor, who was sitting down watching her. She'd begun pacing as she talked. Since when did she pace? She swallowed and continued. "That man, he was very angry, it seemed to me. Resentful, sad, depressed even. I think that that is more than enough proof, especially since he _jumped_ into the water right after."

"I suppose." The Doctor said quietly. Then he looked up, suddenly excited. "Whatever makes them do this, it needs them to get into the water. That's the only thing that makes sense. This whatever it is, needs people to go to the water, get submerged in it. Somehow it feeds off of them, or more likely," He paused. "their emotions. It makes sense. The brain produces chemicals to make emotions, to put it simply. This thing, it needs those chemicals. So it somehow lures them in. They drink the water. It stimulates the brain to release the chemicals. All it needs is for the body to be in the water. Then it has another victim. And it can feed. And survive, perhaps even thrive." He looked around excitedly, springing up. "Neat."

"That's horrible!" Clara gaped. "How can you say it's neat when it may very well be killing people?"

"Oh please, Clara. You do realize that it probably doesn't kill them. Why should it? If they die they stop giving it what it wants..." He trailed off, then sputtered back to the real world. "And that's why it needs them to disappear. It hides them somewhere dark and safe, somewhere no one will save them, but they won't die. It hides them under the water. There must be a cave somewhere. Come on, we have our lead! Let's go!" He jumped forward, into action.

Clara just walked. But The Doctor ran to the cup of water he'd taken. He still needed to get rid of it. He picked up the cup carefully, with some gloves on so the water was less likely to touch him. They raced down the hill to get rid of it.

But just as they were coming down the slope, just when it seemed that it would be easy, that no one would get hurt, that nothing completely unexpected or out of the blue would happen, something did happen.

The Doctor raced down the hill, Clara in front of him, ready for the challenge. She turned to look at him, to make sure he was still behind her. As if he'd be anywhere else. And his foot, while in that split second, that half a second of distraction, got caught. His foot caught on a stick, or a stone, or something, and suddenly the world was _tilting_.

It seemed to happen in slow motion. His world was tilting, and he realised that _he_ was the one falling over, but he couldn't worry about that. Because not only was he tilting, but so was the water. That dangerous water. And Clara right in front of him. And tilting, tilting, tilting, until suddenly the world slowed even slower, and The Doctor watched, as Clara, standing right in front of him, got caught, spiderwebbed, covered, in the rays of water as they splashed out of the cup. And that water was dangerous. And now Clara, the person he'd tried to protect, was in danger. And it was just because of a split second.

And he watched, as Clara, the impossible girl, that girl who's life was so complex, and all because of him, got covered, no, not covered, _drenched_ in that water. That water that might kill her.

There is a saying, that some people use. "We're only human." They say, whenever they make mistakes. And although The Doctor did look human, inside he wasn't. He was a Time Lord. He should have stopped this, prevented it. It was his job. But he hadn't. There is no saying for the Time Lords, no equivalent to our saying, "We're only human." and so, he felt completely responsible. There was no saying that Clara could use either, and have it be a correct response.

**A/N- I've been a bit out sync, lately. I don't know, just kind of tired and cranky. But anyway, I tried my best, and faked the rest, (As said by my favorite Band teacher ever, Mr. Pool.) and I hope that it was passable. I try to make a chapter a day, but with school approaching, and my muse running away somewhere to hide, I honestly don't know. I'll keep trying hard, and I'll try to keep you updated!**

**Also, as always, I will plead for reviews, comments, and especially constructive criticism. An author needs to know what she can improve on! Thanks for reading!**

**-Misty**


	4. Chapter 4

**Chapter 4- Temper**

The Doctor fell, then scrambled back up. "Clara! Clara, are you okay?" He asked frantically.

"Of course not!" Clara's voice was shrill. "The water that we've just deemed poisonous has been spilled all over me!" She yelled angrily.

"Sorry!" The Doctor said, trying and failing to make amends. "Sorry. I'm sorry, Clara." He repeated it, even though he knew repeating it didn't do much good.

"Sorry won't save me!" Clara said urgently. She'd been reduced to whispers, her voice fearful. She sighed, and seemed to let go of the anger. "You can fix it, you clever idiot!" She almost seemed to scold him in a motherly fashion. "Now go, try to fix it! If this stuff is going to affect my mood, you need to fix it fast, or I might take a dive." She glanced at the water.

"Right." The Doctor glanced about nervously. "We need to get you clean first. The water might still be getting into your system. Heck, we don't even know if it _can_ get in through the skin! That's great! It might not even be a problem! Better safe than sorry, though. Go to the Tardis. You know where the swimming pool is?"

Clara nodded. "But I might infect the water in the pool as well, right?"

"It's a chance, but you'll get cleaner, and the bacteria will most likely starve if you leave it in there long enough." The Doctor said quickly. "Then get some new clothes, and we'll be all set!"

Clara nodded again, and dashed off, soaking wet sleeves streaming water wherever they were flung as she moved her arms while she ran.

The Doctor sighed, and picked up the cup that had once contained the water, with his gloves still on. He made sure to keep the trickling water away from his gloved hands as much as possible. Then he walked the rest of the way down the hill, came to the shore of the lake, the thing that had started all this, and threw the cup with all his might into the waters. It sank quickly, and quietly, and no one would have known it was there, except him. This was why he hated water. It loved to keep secrets.

He sighed, and headed back to the Tardis.

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Clara had gotten her bath, and she was fairly sure that she'd gotten almost all of the bad water off, but she still felt as though her mood was changing. Suddenly the world seemed darker than before, less good was here, it seemed, and more evil. Clara felt like it was closing in on her.

She'd found new clothes. The Doctor had been scared, and worried on her behalf, and now he was doing everything in his power to speed up the case. But suddenly, it seemed just _different_. Her new clothes were scratchy feeling, and The Doctor had been the reason she'd gotten into this mess. The clumsy clot couldn't even keep from spilling some water. How could he keep from killing a life?

And suddenly, Clara's doubts came rushing at her. Her mind went wild, showing her all the times when no one had helped. It all looked hopeless. No one helped, and no one would, and she'd die alone because no one cared anyway. Certainly not Angie, whose words at her funeral would be something along the lines of "I hated her."

The Doctor rushed about. He left her to herself, mostly, keeping his distance but always, always watching. She felt his eyes bore into the back of her head.

"Clara, could you pass me my sonic?" The Doctor asked. "I left it over on the control panel there." He pointed.

"Why can't you get it?" Clara asked irritably. "You've got two perfectly functional legs."

"Yes, but I'd need more arms." The Doctor said, showing her how he was balancing a microscope, a periodic table, and something that looked like a rat cage in his arms.

"Fine." Clara said angrily. She stood up and strode over, picked up the sonic, and rushed over to The Doctor, holding it out expectantly.

"Place it right on top of the cage, please." He said.

She did so. "What's this all for?" She asked.

"Oh, experiments. So I can figure out a cure or something." He said, walking over to a chair and disposing of everything heavily. It all clattered onto the chair, and something in the cage shrieked.

Clara decided not to ask. Instead she voiced her own thoughts. "Doctor, I think it's already affecting me. I think I'm already ill tempered, and I'm getting angrier." She was afraid, that was for certain. Afraid of these wild emotions she had no hope to control.

"Yes, well, we'll fix it. I promise." He put a hand on her shoulder. "I promise." He repeated, looking her right in the eye.

"But just if it can't be fixed," Clara began worriedly, "just in case it's a lost cause, what would happen to me?"

The Doctor was silent.

"Tell me." Clara said. "I need to know."

He sighed. "It would ravage your mind until nothing is left but a longing for the lake. That much I can tell. You'd go insane, Clara. Only thinking for the lake, trying to get there. You'd have to be restrained eventually. After that, you'd eventually find a way out. People who are desperate always do. You'd find a way out of the restraints, and then you'd get to the lake, and from there..." He trailed off. "From there you'd jump in, and I'd never find you again."

Clara nodded silently. "How long do you think I have?"

"I don't know. That's the problem! I don't know if you should be in chains, or if you're still fit to pass me a screwdriver! It's impossible to predict without further testing, and that can't happen on our time schedule." The Doctor looked around for some other random supply.

Clara looked on silently, not speaking a word. Finally, after maybe five minutes, she spoke. "Thank you for telling me." She swallowed. Thanking someone for telling you the horrible things likely to happen in your future wasn't something she liked doing.

The Doctor looked down. "Don't thank me. I'm the person who got you in this mess."

The rest of the time was passed in silence, icy and chilling. Clara was too stubborn to admit it, but she was growing rather tired. Sleep sounded so nice, right now. And before she knew it, she was asleep, out cold in the chair she'd been waiting in.

**A/N- Okay, that's the chapter! I hope there aren't many mistakes! I'm feeling a bit more tired today than yesterday, but I tried. I hope there aren't any plot holes that I missed!**

**Anyway, if there are plot holes, just let me know in the comment. If you comment, which I desperately hope you do. Review, comment, constructive criticism, anything at all, I'd be thankful! *begging face* Please?**

**Have a good time reading, writing, reviewing, whatever it is you do! Ta ta!**

**-Misty**


	5. Chapter 5

**Chapter 5- Progressing**

The Doctor looked over his shoulder at Clara. She'd fallen asleep in the chair. It must have been a side effect of the bad water in her system. She looked so peaceful in sleep. The worry left her face, and the lines of her smiles and frowns disappeared, until such a smooth, unassuming face was left, you could barely recognize her. The Doctor wondered if the same thing happened when he slept. Did his worry slip away? Or was he always haunted, even in dreams, of his past, and his darker days.

He went back to the experiment. He had to work fast. Fast, fast, fast. It was the only way to keep Clara safe, to keep her from harm. Working fast might save her. _Might_. Only might, but still.

The Doctor looked down. He still had a small petri dish with a few drops of the poisoned water. He could still identify what was causing this. It was something alive, that was almost certain, because it needed chemicals to survive. But he couldn't see anything besides harmless bacteria that was always in ponds, and lakes, and other bodies of water.

He took the petri dish to another microscope, one that focused much smaller. He placed it under, and looked through. It took him a minute to find anything. But then he did.

It was normal bacteria. Not harmful, not hurting. Even if you drank it, the bacteria would eventually die because it'd been taken from it's natural environment of water. But inside the bacteria, inside those little bits of life, was a tiny, almost too small to see, virus.

"Of course." He muttered to himself. "It's just using the bacteria as a ride. Then when it gets where it needs to be, it kills the bacteria from the inside, and gets to work." He didn't know why he talked out loud so much. He guessed it just suited him.

He took the microscope's adjusters and focused in even farther, until the virus was plain to see. His mind rocketed off, trying to think of something that resembled this. Then he'd know how to cure it.

Once he'd gotten a good mental image, he went to wake up Clara. He felt bad doing so, but she'd want to know about the revelation. "Clara." He tapped her shoulder.

"What?" Clara asked drowsily, rubbing her eyes and sitting up straighter. "What is it?"

"Found out what the problem is." The Doctor whispered excitedly. "There's a virus hiding in the bacteria. It can probably get through the pores in human skin, so that's why contact affects you. I just need to figure out the virus, and we'll have our cure in no time."

"Great." Clara slumped back in her chair. "I think I might go back to sleep, if you don't mind. I think the entire ordeal's taken a lot out of me."

"Fine." The Doctor said, frowning. He needed someone to talk to, someone to nod their head and say 'That makes sense.' or 'Good job!' but if Clara wanted to sleep, he didn't have anyone to say that. Oh well. He supposed she'd earned it, putting up with him.

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Clara woke with a start. The Doctor was still there, hurrying away through books to figure out what virus it was. She vaguely remembered him telling her about a virus, or something, before she'd gone back to sleep.

She stood up. There was a crick in her neck from the chair. She cursed herself silently for deciding that a hard backed chair was a good place for a kip.

The Doctor whirled around with some other book of his. "Ah, Clara! You're awake!" He exclaimed without looking up. "Come over here and help me, would you? We're looking for something like this." He held up a picture of some virus.

"Why do you need help?" She asked slowly. Slowly because of a pounding headache that had started. Slowly because the world seemed rather dark again. She wondered why, but remembered the virus. It was doing this to her.

"Well..." He began. "You see- the virus-" The Doctor sighed. "The virus, I can't find any accounts of it, anywhere. I've found several things that might look like it, but they do things other than what this does, and so I haven't found a match yet." He looked up. "I've been through several hundred pages trying. It's just not looking up."

"Oh. So it might still get me then." Clara said numbly. _How can't he find it? Isn't he supposed to be a genius?_ Some voice in Clara's head whispered. _Isn't he supposed to know these things? Am I not worth helping?_

"I'm trying my best." The Doctor said hurriedly. "It's just, there are infinite amounts of bacteria and viruses. It could take years to find one that even slightly matched the description."

_He can't help you. The Time Lord can't help you. Are you sure you can trust him? Someone who says he's helping, and yet he can't find a cure? He'll yet you die?_ That voice, that velvety voice in Clara's head whispered again. It seemed to take a shape, right in front of her, with her in the Tardis. The shape was of a small girl. It was her a child. Clara when she was maybe seven. _Is he really your friend?_ Young Clara whispered.

"Yes of course he is!" Clara shouted at her, not realizing she'd said it out loud. She looked around. The young version of herself was gone, just as suddenly as it had appeared.

"What?" The Doctor asked, striding over to put a hand on Clara's shoulder. "What, Clara?"

"There was a girl there." Clara pointed. "She was right there, I swear."

He looked at her, then at the empty space she was pointing at. "Clara, I think the illness is progressing. I'm sorry, but this is obviously the next stage. Hearing voices, seeing things." He paused. "Was the person of any significance to you? What did they say?"

"It was me when I was seven. She was telling me that you're not my friend, and that's when I said 'Of course he is'." She looked away. "What's going to happen to me? If we can't find this cure, then what?"

"I already said what will happen, Clara. Best not to think on it." He turned back to the book he'd been flipping wildly through. "Tell me if she comes back."

_You can't trust him._ Young Clara came back as soon as The Doctor turned away. _He's lying to you. He know's what's causing this. He just wants to see what'll happen. After all, you're his personal lab rat._ Young Clara walked over to the rail and leaned against it next to the real one. _Follow me._ She said, walking to the doors of the Tardis.

Why would I? Clara asked herself. But, as if against her will, her legs moved, and she walked to the Tardis's doors.

_I can help you._ Young Clara promised.

The real Clara's hand rested on the door. She didn't want help from this stranger who'd used her young self as an avatar. But even before it computed, her hand pushed the door open, and she treaded silently out of the Tardis.

"Clara?" The Doctor asked. He hurried to the door, seeing Clara standing outside on the grass. "Clara? What are you doing?"

"Nothing." Clara managed. She wasn't sure why she'd lied. Maybe just because, but maybe because she wanted to hear her younger self out. "Nothing. Just getting fresh air."

"You were going to the lake." It wasn't a question.

"So maybe I was!" She snapped, whirling around to glare at him. "Maybe that voice in my head is getting to me already. So what?"

"So what? That's everything, Clara. You have to stay strong. You can't listen to it, it'll just get you faster." He beckoned her back inside. "What would you have me do? Tie you up?"

"I don't know." She said quietly. "I don't know what any of us can do." The world seemed so dark again. The light was fading. She looked outside. There was, actually, a sunset. The light really _was_ fading. Dark.

"Promise not to listen to it. I'm going to keep searching." The Doctor said. "I'm going to save you, Clara Oswald. I promise."

Clara only nodded. Suddenly she felt tired again. Really tired. She leaned on the railing for support.

"What's wrong?" The Doctor asked. His voice sounded all muffled. Like she had cotton in her ears.

Clara managed to sit back down in the chair she'd gotten out earlier.

The Doctor crouched in front of her, concern etched not only in his face, but in his entire stance. "What's wrong, Clara?" He repeated.

Her hearing was all blurry at the edges, it seemed. And suddenly so was her vision. She saw a blurry figure bending over her, trying to get her to say something, to say anything, to tell him that she was okay. But she couldn't. Her mouth wouldn't work. And she sunk deeper in her chair. So tired. Black began invading her vision. It crept up at the edges like spider webs, closing in slowly. So dark. The world was a dark place. Clara felt she wouldn't miss it.

The last thing she saw was the blurry figure of The Doctor shaking her to keep her awake. But it didn't help. And with that, she was asleep, out cold, unconscious once again.

**A/N- I hope to keep Clara battling this for a bit! :) I think it's a good idea, but tell me if you think so. I think my muse finally came out of hiding, and is now fully ready to keep going with this FanFiction! However, school will still be out soon, so I can never be sure on my updates.**

**As always, please, review, comment, criticize, whatever it is you do! I know you can!**

**Have a great time reading, writing, whatever!**

**-Misty**


	6. Chapter 6

**Chapter 6- Leap of Faith**

Clara woke to The Doctor sitting on the ground with his back to the Tardis's control panel. She blinked. There he was, still there. Watching her with worried eyes.

"Are you okay?" He asked, showing clearly what was his top priority. He got up and went over to her. "You've been out for two hours."

"Two hours?" Clara asked hoarsely. She looked around. "I don't know what happened."

"The virus is taking into affect. It won't be long before it's progressed to a point in which you barely wake up at all, or," he added, "You don't wake up. It could, scientifically speaking, keep you in that sedated state for years at a time, if not indefinitely."

Clara's eyes were white rimmed with fear. "What do we do then? I can't have you looking after me and slowing your progress."

"I don't know." The Doctor said, looking troubled. "Honestly. It's quite the predicament. I can't leave you alone, in case you pass out or go for the lake, and I can't tie you up for moral reasons, and because we might miss new symptoms that'll help me pinpoint this virus." He paced around, while Clara still sat in the chair, feeling the lack of will to stand up.

"Let's not worry about it now." Clara said, trying to keep calm. "We've got to keep going. I'll try my best to ignore any visions and such, and you try your best to find which virus it is. You've checked the Tardis's data banks, right?"

The Doctor nodded. "The Tardis has an incredible amount of knowledge, Clara. But there are so many diseases, there's just no way it can store all of it. Simply because no one keeps all the accounts of diseases. A flu comes, it passes though, and no one remembers. That's the problem. No one took records of this disease and logged it onto a computer. They might have written it down, which is why I'm checking books, but it's much less effective than if they'd just have put it up for all to see on the internet, or something."

Clara was silent for a bit. Then she added something to The Doctor's thoughts. "Or it's a new disease that no one's seen before. In which case you can test medicines on me, to see if they work."

The Doctor looked at her. "I'm not using you as a lab rat." He said.

Clara smiled, glad that he didn't view her as one. "Then keep searching. Maybe something will turn up." She said, trying to keep her voice warm, and calm, for as much her sake as for his.

He nodded, and turned to go check another book.

Clara sat back in her chair. The headache was there, pounding the inside of her skull like a beast trying to get free. She cringed as she focused on the pain, and then tried to distract herself from it with other thoughts.

That was when young Clara appeared again. _So,_ that silky voice whispered, _what will happen now? He won't find it. It isn't there. I'm something new._ It looked prideful of this.

Clara studiously ignored the vision. It wasn't real. It was just the virus, playing with her mind.

_He's not going to save you._ She insisted, eyes wide and convincing. _Look at him. He's got thousands of books. Even if he checks them all, I won't be there. You know he won't save you._

"You're wrong." Clara thought, but didn't say it out loud. She knew the vision would still hear her, and it would save The Doctor from worrying.

_Oh really? How about you get him to prove it then?_ Her young self stepped forward. _A test._

"What?"

_A test. To prove he's really trying. And it's simple too. Run down to the lake. See if he'll try hard enough to stop you. I bet you he won't even look your way._

Clara's anger boiled, but she closed her eyes. "I bet he'd catch me before I made it to the door." She thought.

_Is this a bet, then?_ Young her asked eagerly. _Will you do it? Call it a leap of faith. Just to see. Just to see if he can, and if he even will._

"It'll prove you wrong." Clara thought. She didn't know why she was thinking this. It was just getting to her somehow. She stood up, almost against her will, like last time. And again, her legs moved of almost their own accord, as she flew to the doors of the Tardis and flung them open.

"Clara!" The Doctor shouted. "What are you doing?" He was already racing after her.

_A test._

When she looked back on it, it all happened in a blur.

_A leap of faith._

She sprinted down the hillside. He'd win this test, she knew it. She trusted him.

_Can you? Can you really? Trust is a dangerous beast. It'll always let you down._

The Doctor raced after her.

_He won't save you. No one will._

The lake was approaching. The Doctor was gaining, but Clara was getting to the lake too fast. He might not save her.

_A test._

The lake loomed, dark in the night. Clara tried to stop, but her legs wouldn't. They kept going, of their own accord. It was the virus again, she realized. She'd been tricked.

_One tiny leap._

And she kept going. The Doctor was right behind her. He could almost grab her, but Clara lunged, (Much against her will.) and found herself sailing through the air, until she landed in the cool water. It splashed into her with force she hadn't expected. It meddled with her hair, and got it all in her face, and she was drenched in that water, that cool, dark, too black water. That water that could kill her.

_A leap of faith._

All it had taken for the virus to get her was a stupid bet. She hated herself. She hated herself for falling for this silly trick. The bubbles swirled around her. She watched them float up, her hair splayed around her like a net, or a spider web. And then, of course, just like all the others before her, just like the man in deer skin that she'd witnessed, Clara Oswald disappeared.

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The Doctor had almost touched her. He'd almost gotten her before she'd jumped. If only he'd gone a bit faster, hadn't been so engrossed in his book. He'd felt the fabric of her coat with the tips of his fingers. And then nothing. It had disappeared right before his hand had clenched down to catch it, and he'd caught nothing but air.

And then he'd watched as Clara Oswald, the impossible girl, had sailed in the air, and splashed into the lake. Into the water.

It was his fault. He knew it.

"Clara!" He roared. "Clara!" He didn't know what came over him. It was obvious that she was gone, disappeared like the others, and yet, _that couldn't be_.

Could it?

He jumped into the water. He didn't know what compelled him to do so. He jumped into the water, at an area that was knee high, and sloshed about, searching for a sign that Clara wasn't gone. But she was.

He already felt the water working, doing it's magic. The world was dark right now. And he felt sad for his loss, and angry at himself for not stopping her, and resentful at Clara for going in the first place. It was night. The world was a dark place. He found he didn't wish to be included in it anymore.

The Doctor frowned. It was already taking effect. He sloshed towards the bank. This wouldn't help Clara. He was already infected. He'd have to work even more quickly now.

He felt the deadly water trickle on his skin. He was plagued with all his worst memories. He sat down at the bank, and took his shoes off to get most of the water out. The memories assailed him with no relent. _Gallifrey burning. People dying. Screams. Shouts. River._ Memories of River flooded him for a moment. Then of Clara. _Clara jumping._

He closed his eyes to stop for a bit. When he opened them, and looked up, he was surprised to see a younger version of himself.

_You'd do well to go to the water, Doctor. It will help you._ The Tenth Doctor said. He didn't so much as speak, as he did think it. And the thought bounced around in The Doctor's head.

_Go to the water._

**A/N- Haha! Hope you enjoyed! I had fun writing this chapter, just like any other, but maybe a bit more so, because I love these kinds of plots. As always, reviews are loved, appreciated, wanted, wished for, however you'd like to say it.**

**-Misty**


	7. Chapter 7

**Chapter 7- Split**

The Doctor staggered back to the Tardis. "I've got to save Clara…" He muttered to himself.

_Save her how?_ The Tenth Doctor asked. _I'm something new. You won't find a cure. And even if you do, it'll take time. Much more time than you have, I'm afraid._

"Go away." He went into the Tardis, and closed the door before the hallucination could get in, only to have his younger self appear next to him.

_Do you remember,_ The Tenth Doctor smiled, _when you were this young? Your glory days. So much excitement. Do you really think you can keep that up?_

"Get out of my head." The original snarled. "Get. Out. Now."

_I don't see how you'll make me._

"Oh, well, you just don't, do you?" The Doctor smiled. "If I jump into that lake, I can regenerate, effectively frying you and most of your kind in the water. So I'd do as I ask if I were you."

_Luckily you are me._ The Tenth said. _But if you kill us off, you'll also be killing Clara._

This froze The Doctor where he stood. "What?" He asked hoarsely. It was unthinkable to kill the bacteria if it killed Clara. He hoped that his hallucination was lying.

_You heard me._ Tenth said, still smiling while the original doctor rummaged around for some books and supplies. _If you kill us, Clara will die. She's in an underwater cave, I'll give you that. But she's still in the water. Regenerate in the water, it'll kill both her and us. But we have infected some villagers. No matter what, we'll still be there. No matter what, you lose._ He grinned. _And regenerating out of the water will save __you, yes. It'll save you, and you can cut your losses and move on. But you'll have to let Clara stay here._

"Leave me alone." The Doctor pushed past his hallucination. He swept over to another room of the Tardis. He began rummaging around for something.

_What are you looking for?_ The hallucination asked anxiously.

"Medicine." His swift reply claimed. "I have all sorts of medicine. After all, I am a doctor."

The hallucination was quiet. _What medicine?_ It asked slowly.

"Something to stop hallucinations." The Doctor chimed, smiling. "And here it is!" He held up a bottle of dark blue liquid. "Bottoms up!" He grinned, chugging a good bit. He closed his eyes as he swallowed the medicine, and then left his eyes closed as he waited for most of the medicine's bitter taste to subside. When he opened his eyes again, The Tenth Doctor was nowhere to be found. "Goodbye for now." He said quietly.

He ran swiftly to the Tardis's control panels, and began to flip through books with frenzied haste. He needed to find a cure. For his sake as much as Clara's. He need to find Clara, too. So much to do.

And he didn't have much time.

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Clara awoke to a ringing in her ears. She didn't open her eyes. She just lay there. It was wet. In fact, she was lying in a pool of water. The ringing increased a bit, then decreased significantly. Her head throbbed. She tried to move, but nothing would work yet. Even her eyelids. They were much too heavy.

She tried to remember. How had she gotten here? Where _was_ here, anyway? She decided to focus on that. Where she was. There was a wet trickling noise, and the sound of drops of water hitting the floor. Maybe a cave? That seemed a good explanation. She stuck with it.

Now for the next part. How. How had she gotten here? She vaguely remembered someone shouting. Someone running after her. Had it been Artie? No. It had been someone else. Suddenly it came to her. The Doctor had been running after her. He'd been shouting. Why'd he been doing that?

Her memory was foggy. The moment she came close to an answer, it seemed to slip away like a fish in the water. She sighed, her eyes still closed. What had happened?

She lay like that for a few minutes. In truth, it must have been twenty, maybe thirty minutes before it came to her. When she wasn't expecting any answer to come, when she'd stopped trying, it just popped into her head. The younger her had made her do it. There had been a bet. _A leap of faith_, She remembered. And she'd ran down the hill to see if he would save her. He hadn't been able to, and she hadn't been able to stop. And she'd gone into the water.

So I'm underwater then. The virus took me here. It made sense. The wetness, the cave, the reason she couldn't move. Would she be like this forever? Would she always lie here, helpless, but still able to think? Would she go insane?

She didn't know. She still couldn't open her eyes. She still couldn't speak. Couldn't cry for help, couldn't even try to save herself. She was utterly helpless. She hated herself for jumping into the water. She hated all of it.

Clara knew The Doctor was trying his hardest. She knew it. But would it be enough? Would she eventually be left here, alone to rot in the darkness?

More time passed. She found herself regaining a little strength. It still wasn't much, but she could open her eyes. She did so. A cave. It didn't surprise her. Jagged black walls loomed, imminent. The entire floor was covered in a foot of water, not enough to drown in, if you laid down in it like Clara was, but enough to be of constant annoyance and worry. For some odd reason, the chamber was dimly lit, even though by all laws it shouldn't be lit at all. By all laws, Clara shouldn't have been able to see. And yet, she did.

Another thing struck Clara. The hallucination was gone. She figured it had done it's work. The virus no longer needed to goad her into jumping, so it stopped using it's energy to trick her eyes and ears.

The real question was how a virus could think as advanced as this one. It kept up an actual conversation, and it had somehow taken her to the bottom of the lake. It was too small, and made up of too many singular viruses to be intelligent. The viruses were spread all over inside her, so they couldn't function together enough to think so advanced. So how? How could it speak? How could it understand Clara, and how could it transport her to a cave instantly without advanced technology?

Clara had a feeling she'd find out.

Especially when she heard footsteps.

**A/N- Oops! Did I just leave you wondering who the mastermind behind everything was? Oh well. :) I'll update soon, I hope, so you won't have to wait long! I for one certainly understand when I story is left un-updated for a long time!**

**As usual, I would love reviews, and comments, and constructive criticism, and anything else you have to offer. I value everyone's opinions!**

**-Misty**


	8. Chapter 8

**Chapter 8- A New City**

The Doctor scrambled around the Tardis, hurriedly riffling through random objects and books and papers. He had to find a cure.

_You can't find it,_ The Tenth Doctor said, _it doesn't exist._

"Oh yes I can!" The original shouted out. "Oh yes, I can! I most definitely can!" He tore through some more supplies trying to find something that even slightly resembled a cure of any kind. "And wait a minute. You've come back again." He said slowly.

_Ta da! Back again, just like last time. Now, about that cure. It's impossible for you to find it, because it _does not exist. _Honestly, I don't know why you keep trying._ Tenth chastised.

"I will find a cure." The Doctor said steadfastly. "It might take a millennia, but I will find it."

_Ah, but you don't have a millennia. You have, I don't know, six, maybe seven hours before you run out of medicine to keep me away? Then it'll be easy. You'll just jump in, just like Clara. _Tenth smiled at this, as if it was the best thing possible.

"Ah, but you see-" The Doctor began, reaching into his jacket. "I don't have to listen to your taunts quite yet." He pulled out the medicine he'd used earlier, and took a huge swallow. The taste was bitter, and maybe even slightly metallic. He shook his head to help the taste go away. When he looked up, the past him was flickering, and quickly vanished entirely.

"There we are!" The Doctor yelled, running around the Tardis excitedly. "Right then, now we need that cure…" He looked about, then continued digging through all sorts of medicine, looking for something that caught his eye.

He needed something to catch his eye soon.

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Clara felt panic well up inside her as the footsteps sounded. They were like gunshots in the quiet of the cave. She winced as they grew louder still. She still couldn't move more than her eyes and some of her face, so she was helpless. She had to hope it (Whatever it was.) would pass her by.

It did not.

A man's voice echoed through the chamber. "Ah. Another one." The footsteps increased in noise until they were deafening, and finally the man came into sight. He stepped into the water that Clara was lying in, making the waters churn around his ankles.

The man was older than Clara, maybe forty or fifty. He looked older than The Doctor too, but she knew that wasn't likely. After all, The Doctor was, what? A thousand years old? Clara didn't know for sure. The man came closer. He had dark hair, and dark eyes as well.

"Don't be afraid. This is where all you lot appear. You're the fifth today." He said casually.

Clara couldn't help but be afraid. She found her mouth was starting to work again. "What do you want?" She asked, rather hostile sounding.

"Well, I wanted to help, but now I'm afraid you'd bite me." He said simply. "I'm only trying to help."

"Yeah. You just happen to be in the underwater cave where the virus takes people, and yet you're not infected?" Clara snarled.

"Ooh, you know about the virus? Most people think a spirit made them jump." He said interestedly. "I know it's rather suspicious, but you'll have to trust me."

"How can I trust you? You're probably behind the entire disease!" Clara didn't feel like cooperating. The disease was still making everything look in it's worst light. So to her, this man was entirely guilty.

"I am behind the disease, I'll give you that." He said, smiling. "But not everything is as you think." He held out a water bottle. "Here. This'll give you some more control over your body. You can stand up and walk if you drink it."

Clara nodded, finally giving in. The man bent down and gave her some of the water. It tasted like there was medicine mixed in it, which Clara guessed there was. When she swallowed, the effect was almost immediate. Warmth flowed back into her limbs, and she felt like the world had brightened a bit, if only a little.

"Better?" He asked.

Clara nodded, and struggled to sit up. Once that mountain was conquered, she leaned against the wall of the cave and pulled herself up to a standing position.

"Need help?" The man asked. "I am right here, waiting to be of assistance, after all."

"Well, if you're the reason that virus is here, I will not be accepting any assistance from you." Clara snarled. "I make it a standard not to be helped by criminals and the likes."

"Fine." He put his hands up in the air to signal defeat. "Fine. But I already told you, it's not what you think."

Clara didn't give him the satisfaction of a response, and just stared at the cave wall.

"I did it to start a new future." He began. "There are so many things wrong with the world. Even here, in a paradise world, there are so many problems. And when I learned the this virus can bring the problems out, make them more prominent, I started thinking." He walked over to the cave wall and leaned against it. "So I used the virus. I planted it on this world, and it drove people to the water, where I could teleport them down here."

"You aren't from this planet?" Clara asked.

"No. I'm from a planet far away. Anyway, I teleported them down here, and I plan to build a new city, a new city with only those who are good enough to be in it." He looked away. "That way, for the people in this city, there won't be problems."

"What happens to the people who aren't perfect?" Clara asked, angry that this man only selected the people he thought were worthy, him being the one and only judge of their destiny.

"The virus can have them. It compels the people to swim to a different cave. There they stay, neither happy nor unhappy. The virus uses them, and that's that." His voice was cold, as if he didn't really care what happened to them.

"I take it most everyone is imperfect, then." Clara said quietly. She didn't want to anger him. She felt it could be a fatal mistake.

"Most people are imperfect." He said, answering the question as if it was nothing. "But not to worry. I believe that you would make a good citizen in the new city. You won't be thrown to the water. Besides," He added, "I already gave you the antidote in the water you drank."

"What's the antidote, then?" Clara asked, hoping to get the recipe and get out of there.

"Never you mind." It was obvious that he wouldn't be so easily persuaded. "It'll take a bit to come into full effect, but you should be good to stand up and walk now." He began to walk away. "Come on then. I'll bring you to the city."

Clara, without a word, did as he told her. She knew the consequences if she didn't.

**A/N- Sorry I couldn't get this out sooner! I had to go to a Lyle Lovett concert, and I didn't have time to write. If you haven't heard of Lyle Lovett, he's an old singer that I like to listen to. My favorite song of his is "Church".**

**Anyway, apart from apologizing for my tardiness and blathering on about old singers, I'd like to thank anyone and everyone who's followed, favorited, and/or reviewed this story. I couldn't do it without you!**

**And as always, reviews, comments, criticisms, anything, they're all welcome. Don't be afraid to tell me I did something wrong!**

**-Misty**


	9. Chapter 9

**Chapter 9- Another Leap**

The Doctor was still running out of time. He was still searching for the medicine, but there wasn't much left to search through. He'd dug around the Tardis for so long, he doubted he could have found anything. There was no cure here.

However, he did know one thing. The virus could not transport people when they hit the water on it's own. He knew that it needed help to do so. And so, it felt logical to believe that someone was helping it. Someone needed to transport people somewhere, and the virus was just helping them along. He needed to find them. Perhaps they would have the cure.

That left only one option.

But he didn't like it.

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The man led Clara farther into the cave. She kept glancing over her shoulder, suspicious, and scared, and altogether out of her league. She'd never been in a cave before, much less a cave that was _underwater_, and she certainly didn't like it. It made her feel like everything was trying to get her all at once.

"What's your name?" She asked slowly. The least her captor could do was tell her his name.

"It's a very long name, nearly impossible for people of your tongue to pronounce. So I've just decided to be called by a different name. Call me Evan." The man said. He continued walking as if no one had said anything.

After maybe ten more minutes of walking, Evan stopped. "Here we are." He said, walking up to two large doors of some sort of pale metal. He pushed a door open. "After you."

Clara decided it would be best to do as he said, and went through the doors.

What she saw was hard, if not impossible, to comprehend. She came out onto a cliff overlooking a city. It was a city alright, but it was _underwater_. A huge city, made of pale, light gray metal like the doors, and a white kind of stone that was marbled with light pink strands. And, holding the crushing tons of water above, was a huge dome. A bubble, you could say. It looked like it could pop at any minute. The tops of the houses and buildings and even the roads, were painted blue, which Clara assumed was for camouflage.

But, despite the dome, and the blue paint that made the city nearly invisible, there was one thing that was odder than anything else about the place. The lights were blue. All the street's lights, the windows of houses, the candles in rooms, the lanterns that people were carrying to light their paths, they were all blue. More camouflage, obviously, but still. The very fact that this was possible was just odd. By all rights, the fires burning in this city shouldn't have been blue, and yet there they were, ranging from a deep navy to that light sky blue that one saw at the verge of dawn.

"Impressive, isn't it?" Evan gazed down at the city with prideful eyes. "I discovered a chemical on this planet that makes fire burn blue, as you can see. I've used it quite a lot here, to keep the city hidden. We can't have people who don't belong coming in."

"Yeah…" Clara wasn't really listening. She was still just staring at the city. After a few moments, she snapped back to reality. "How many people are here?"

"Close to five hundred, I'd say. I have the exact amount somewhere, but I've always misplaced things." Even said quietly. "So few. It won't be a city until we have _fifty thousand_, not five hundred. And even then, it'd be a fairly small city at best."

Clara was silent. She didn't want to cross this man. It seemed he held all the power here.

"How do we get down from here?" She asked after a bit.

"Oh, yes. Stairs right there." He pointed. "Lots of stairs, sorry. Go down to ground level, and then ask someone about accommodations. They'll show you."

"Where are you going?" Clara couldn't help but ask. Her curiosity always got the better of her.

Evan bristled. "To see if anyone else has washed up in the water yet." He stated, and, without even a goodbye, stalked back into the cave, and closed the doors behind him.

Clara raised an eyebrow, and began down the stairs, glad to be away from the unpredictable character. The descent was exhausting. The stairs seemed to go on to no end, and Clara found herself sitting down once to catch her breath.

After what felt like an eternity, (But was really just thirty or so minutes,) she got to the bottom of the staircase, and looked about. Next was to find a person to tell her about accommodations.

"Excuse me, sir? I was told to ask about housing." Clara tried on an elderly man passing by.

"Of course, dear." The man turned around, beaming. Clara was taken aback. He seemed almost too happy. "I believe there's an empty house not far from here."

"One can just choose a house, no paperwork, no anything?" Clara was amazed.

"Of course. We trust you will treat the house nicely, and so why trouble you with a hassle?" The man led her down the street.

Clara was silent. Everyone she passed, they all looked the same. Those ghastly, beaming smiles as if they were being forced to be happy. She shuddered at the thought. Perhaps Evan had spiked their food to make them this way. She wouldn't have put it past him.

She found herself being led to a small, but cozy house near the outside of the city. Near to the dome too, she realized. She'd have to see the dome at some point.

"This is your new house!" The old man exclaimed. "Lovely, isn't it?"

"Yes." Clara mumbled, her thoughts thinking nothing of the sort. "Lovely…"

The old man turned to go. "I'll let you get used to it on your own." He said, beginning to walk away.

"Thanks." Clara managed.

"You're welcome." He answered, and walked off.

Clara stood outside her new "home." She did not want to go inside. She did not want to stay here. And so, she decided she'd go for a stroll. She began to walked toward the dome. She just had to inspect it. She did not want to stay in this city. But as long as she didn't have a choice, she might as well make the most of it.

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The Doctor walked out of the Tardis slowly. He still had the bottle of medicine with him, to keep the hallucination away. He'd need it where he was going.

There was no cure up here. It was true. No cure he could find in time, anyway.

But he was certain there was a cure.

The mastermind behind all this, however they were, had dealt with this water a lot, which meant of course, that they had a cure. And the only way to get to them, it seemed, was to do what they wanted him to do.

The Doctor walked up to the water. The silky smooth water of the lake, that velvet poison, that unsuspected kidnapper.

It had kidnapped Clara. It had kidnapped who knew how many people. But still, the only thing that could save them lay in it's clutches.

_A leap of faith._

The Doctor stepped up to the shore. The rough, rugged shore, where the grass was thick and green, and the ground was soft and giving.

_One tiny jump._

The Doctor barely noticed his past self standing there, smiling, and whispering words of encouragement. He wouldn't have cared even if he had noticed.

_A test._

The Doctor took a good twenty steps away from the large lake, preparing to run at it to get far into it's waters.

_One small leap._

He prepared himself, steeled himself for what he was about to do. It was insane, after all.

_Go on. I know you can do it. Prove your worth, Doctor._

The Doctor began running to the shore of the lake.

_Just try and save Clara._

The Doctor got to the shore, and with an agility that was almost cat-like, coiled up into a position meant to spring from. It was only a few seconds of this, but it happened slowly. And even though it was slow, it was a blur, as if he was looked at the world through some misty glass.

_You won't save her._

The Doctor leapt. he leapt far and high, and over the waters of the large, dark lake. The past him smiled. The original sailed, flew up in the air, and then plunged, down, down down, into the waters. The cool black waters. The Waters of Venen.

_A leap of faith._

**A/N- Sorry for taking so long to get this out! It seems like I left it untouched for a while, even though it was probably only a day or two. Anyway, I hope you enjoyed the chapter, as always. And I will, as always, ask you to comment, or review, or give constructive criticism, or whatever it is you do! :)**

**-Misty**


	10. Chapter 10

**Chapter 10- The Dome**

Clara strolled around the streets of the city. It was dark, but not too dark. A dim, watery light shaded the buildings in a blueish green glow.

She'd almost made it to the dome. Then she could see exactly what it was. Her curiosity wouldn't let her do anything else until she'd at least had a few moments to see it up close.

After a few minutes walk, she came to the dome. It was glass, but it had steel bars spaced out within it, for stability, probably. The glass was at least three meters thick, which made sense, considering the amount of weight they were supposed to hold.

Other than that, it was just a dome. A boundary, meant to keep people in, and everything else out. Clara tapped it, to see if it made any sound. She was greeted with the solid clink of her fingernail on the glass, but nothing else. No resinous sound like that of a wine glass when you rubbed the rim with a wet finger. Just a click, cold and hard.

This served as nothing more than a fence, to keep her trapped, locked away down here. Clara despised it.

She was about to turn back, when movement flickered at the corner of her vision. She looked back at the dome to see a school of fish swimming manically to her right. They were large, almost as big as Clara, and they seemed to be fleeing from something.

_Why was that?_ Clara wondered.

But she was answered too soon. A large creature, several times as long as Clara was tall, swam past, chasing the school of fish. It had an oddly white body, as if the depths of the lake had bleached it of all color. It's eyes were a glowing gray, and it had spines and horns, and anything else sharp, all over it's body.

Clara stepped back, thoroughly frightened of the creature on the other side of the glass, but she shouldn't have been. It only wanted the fish. And when the school of fish swam away, it did too, in hot pursuit of it's meal.

She watched other groups flit about the dome. But after awhile it got monotonous, and she turned to go back to her new house.

The people on the road smiled broadly, making Clara suspicious. Maybe Evan really did spike their food to make them more compliant.

And the oddest thing was, when the citizens saw that Clara wasn't smiling like them, they avoided her, and frowned in distaste.

This city didn't make sense.

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The Doctor woke, feeling groggy and not completely in control of his mind. Of course, people always called him mad, so that wasn't really anything new.

He tried to open his eyes. Nope, wasn't happening. Tried to open his mouth. Not that either. Tried to twitch a finger, just to see. And again, no.

_Interesting._ He thought to himself. _A complete physical takeover, that leaves the mind almost completely untouched._ Of course, only he would find it interesting.

He heard water trickling. He began to become aware of other things, now that moving was out of the question. Obviously he was in a cave. The water, and the dampness told him that.

What he didn't get was why. Why was he here? Shouldn't the virus have taken him to the person behind all this? He doubted that person lived in a cave, so he really didn't know.

He lay like that. Couldn't get up, couldn't cry for help. After awhile he felt some strength return, and was able to open his eyes. He was greeted with the site he'd expected. A cave.

Another period of time passed. The Doctor felt he'd die of boredom. Finally, after what might have been an hour, he heard footsteps.

A man came into his vision. He had raven hair and dark eyes. "Hello." he said simply.

The Doctor mustered what little strength he had, and found he could talk again. "Hello." He said, though his voice was a bit raspy. "Are you in charge of the virus?"

The man looked quizzical. "You're the second person to know that today." He bent down with a bottle of water in hand, beginning to lean it over to pour it.

"If you're the mastermind behind this, I'd rather not drink that if I can help it." The Doctor said, untrusting of this man. Usually he'd give anyone a good few chances to prove themselves untrustworthy before he'd treat them like this, but he was rather shaken at his loss of control on the situation.

"Don't worry. This will help." Evan said, taking the water away for a second to let The Doctor respond.

"Well it doesn't look like I have much of a choice…" The Doctor grumbled, and grudgingly let the water be given to him. After a few seconds, warmth flooded his limbs, and he felt his strength rush back. He managed to sit up, tottering dangerously, and threatening to fall back down, but refused any help he was offered.

"It's not all that it seems." Evan assured. The Doctor, however, was not assured, and remained quietly struggling to lift his weight up off the ground.

Evan sighed. "I'm trying to build a city without problems. This world was a good start, and the virus brings people to this lake, where I'm building it. I choose if someone is trustworthy to live in the new city, and then they are led to it, and they live out their life in peace. The virus only helps me to get people here."

The Doctor, who was still trying to rise into a crouch without assistance, shot a glance at Evan. "What happens to those deemed unworthy?"

Evan sighed. "They find that they don't mind anything. There's another cave they go to, and they just stay there, unthinking."

"And you leave them there?" The Doctor asked, his voice edgey, outraged that this man would judge people and condemn them so quickly.

"Come now, Doctor. Surely you of all people can understand about _cutting your losses._"

"How did you know that? How do you know my name?"

"Oh, well, let's just say the virus transmits the key pieces of information about someone to me. That's how I know whether to cure them or not. So yes," He paused, soaking in how he had the upper hand. "I do know all about you. It's quite interesting, in fact. You managed to unconsciously block me after a few minutes. But I found enough. Gallifrey must have been magnificent." He said it cruelly, even though it was a compliment.

"You should not trespass in other's minds. You may not like what you find." The Doctor warned. "Especially my mind."

"Too late." Evan said happily. "You burned them all, Doctor. I think I saw enough to know that. But I believe you'd do well in this city. After all," He smiled wickedly, "You sacrificed _everything_ for your cause."

The Doctor swallowed. "Where is this… _city_?"

"Right this way."

**A/N- Hi guys! Sorry for the long wait, I had lots going on. I hope this will ease your going back to school, since we all hate it. (I know I do.) Anyway, again, sorry for such a wait. I hope to get a schedule going after school starts. Updates will be less frequent, and might not occur for a long time when school first starts. But don't worry, I won't forget this story! :) As usual, comments, reviews, constructive criticism, they're all welcome.**

**Have a good first day of school! (Or at least, a not-too-horrible one!)**

**-Misty**


	11. Chapter 11

**Chapter 11- A City Like Gallifrey**

The man, Evan, was his name, led The Doctor through the cave, and after a few minutes of walking, they found themselves at a pair of doors made of pale metal.

"Kamirian iron? So you must have a spaceship somewhere…" The Doctor muttered as he inspected every aspect of the doors. "Locked on this side, bolts made of tempered Galactic steel. Hmm. You definitely don't want people getting back out."

When he began tapping the doors to find hollow spots, Evan sighed and opened one for him. "Stop analyzing, and just get over here." He said, but not unkindly, and gestured for The Doctor to step through the doors.

The Doctor did as told, knowing not to anger this man. He stepped out, onto a platform on a cliff, overlooking the city.

Evan watched as the strange man's face filled with an enormous mix of emotions. First there was excitement, then curiosity, then what might have been sadness, or even anger. A few more emotions crossed his features quite rapidly, but Evan was unable to make them out.

It all happened in a few seconds, but The Doctor's face seemed to age much more. "It's a cage." He said simply. "You're keeping them locked up in a cage."

Evan sighed. "Yes, well I suppose to you it _is_ a cage, but it keeps these people happy, and healthy. Why would they leave anyway?" He paused. "And why would you insult it? After all, I can tell it reminds you of Gallifrey. What, with the dome, and the oddities in it. I'm sure you feel very much at home." His voice was loaded with sarcasm.

The Doctor was silent. He looked out over the city, brooding over the words just said, and decided on another topic to discuss. One that would hopefully be less painful. "So what happens to me now?" He whispered.

"You'll be given a home, and be provided with food. You'll live out your life with no more worries. That's what will happen. Of course if someone is sick or injured, I may need to call for your expertise." Evan sucked in a breath, "And you could see Ms. Clara, of course."

The Doctor was clenched his jaw shut. He was afraid of what he might say if he didn't. He glared at the city, almost as if it was the offender, and not Evan. "Fine." He said simply. "Where do I go now?"

"Down the stairs, and ask someone for a house. They'll find you one." Evan said, and then began for the doors again.

"Where're you going?"

"Back to tend to the others that have arrived." Evan said, and strolled back into the cave, the doors locking behind him.

That left one option. Do as he was told, and go down the stairs. The Doctor hated following orders, especially from his opponents, but he'd follow them this once. And then he'd unleash havoc the next chance he got.

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Clara was strolling back to the house she'd gotten. She'd grown tired of walking the streets randomly, and had decided to head back to her new home, and see what could be seen.

She was almost there, when she noticed a figure walking down the steps from the cliff. The place where all the new citizens came from.

Normally she wouldn't of cared. She'd already seen several people make their way down the steps. But this time something was different. The figure was tall, and wore a suit, but it was a waste, because he was thoroughly covered in water, even if it was half dried.

He was at the bottom of the stairs now. Clara saw him clearly. She sucking in a breath. It was The Doctor.

"Doctor!" She shouted, running over to him. "What happened? Why are you here?"

The Doctor smiled. "Well, I figured that this was the logical course of action." He said, clapping her on the shoulder. "And now I'm here, and we can figure out how to fix this!"

Clara smiled. "I'm not sure it'll be that easy." She said simply. When he looked quizzical, she continued. "People here don't seem to want to leave, Doctor. Perhaps it would be best to leave them alone, and just fix the virus."

The Doctor stared at her, and then turned to look at the people in the streets. All the people were smiling, those wide smiles that made Clara think their food was spiked with something.

"They definitely like it here, but only because something's forcing them to." The Doctor muttered, going up to one. "Hello!" He said brightly. "My name's The Doctor, and I think I need a home right now!"

This was an odd question, Clara thought, and anyone but these people would've looked at him as if he was crazy. But the woman The Doctor had asked smiled graciously, and led them to a home not far from Clara's house without a word.

She smiled again. "This is yours. Treat it well!" She turned away.

"I will." The Doctor assured her. He sniffed the air suddenly, and immediately became still. He leaned over and whispered to Clara. "Her food's been spiked, no doubt. Some sort of Arraillian powder, from the Ganel planets. It focuses the mind on one goal. No doubt Evan planted that goal a while ago. It's probably something along the lines of "Be happy." This guy, Evan, has definitely been busy."

Clara nodded. "I thought they were being given something." She said quietly. They stood there, quiet for a moment, both of them still taking in the fact of where they were.

"Now what?"

"I don't see what we can do besides go along with it, Clara. Let's just wait, bide our time. We can't eat anything they give us though, understand?" The Doctor looked to her, the importance of this plain for her to see.

"All right."

The Doctor looked at Clara. "Where'd they put you, anyway?" He gestured at the houses. "We need to know where to find each other."

"Oh, I'm right there." Clara pointed to a house far down the street. She began walking towards it. "Well, I guess this is good night."

"I guess." The Doctor said quietly. "And remember Clara! Do. Not. Eat. Or. Drink. You can't trust them!" He shouted this a bit, and looked around cautiously, afraid he'd attracted attention. But it was a needless worry. The streets were empty, everyone gone inside their houses.

The entire city had closed up, and all at the same time.

There was a schedule then, he supposed. And if one didn't follow the schedule, what happened then?

He pushed the worry aside. Enough to think about without one more problem. He wouldn't get any sleep tonight either way, he was sure. He walked up to his house, and went inside.

It was dark inside. He felt like a stranger in his own home. Of course, it wasn't really his home. But still. It felt like he was trespassing wherever he went in this city.

Especially since it reminded him of Gallifrey.

**A/N- Let me just begin with a sorry for not getting this out sooner. School has started, and I've been taking especially challenging classes. And of course, harder classes mean more homework. So again! Sorry, sorry, sorry, and last but not least, sorry. :) I'll expect to get a schedule soon, but I can't be sure. Expect a chapter on the weekends though! That's the time I'll have the most free time to write in.**

**I hope to elaborate on this city reminding The Doctor of Gallifrey. I don't know why, but the idea seems appealing to my muse, so I'll just go with it. XD Anyway, please review, and tell me if you like the idea. I can always do with the critics!**

**Thanks again for reading!**

**-Misty**


	12. Chapter 12

**Chapter 12- Distractions**

The Doctor woke up, and stretched. It had been a rough night for him, since he usually didn't sleep. Clara would no doubt be pestering him, as he had dark circles under his eyes from only going to sleep at about 4:00 in the morning, and even then, he'd only decided to sleep because there was nothing better to do.

He got up and went to the bathroom. Looking down at the toothpaste, he wondered groggily _is this stuff poisoned too?_

One sniff answered the question. Yes. It looked like it would be a miserable morning after all.

He got dressed quietly, and cursed himself when he started to wake up properly, because now he could recognize all the resemblances this city had to Gallifrey. This was why he almost never slept. He had nightmares, and when he woke, the world was a fog for the first hour at least.

After a while, The Doctor went outside. He considered getting Clara, but when he rang the doorbell, and no one answered, he figured she was still asleep.

Oh well. More fun for him!

He decided to stroll around the city, see what there was to be seen, and then come back for Clara. Just to be sure she didn't go wandering off, (It seemed ALL his companions did that on purpose, he'd never really understood what they didn't understand about "Don't wander off.") he slipped a note under the door with a hastily scribbled message saying he'd be back for her later.

And of course, he'd underlined "Don't wander off!" At the bottom of the note. He doubted it would make a difference though.

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The Doctor strolled around the city, no real destination in mind, just waiting to stumble upon something interesting. He saw quite a few more people get escorted by Evan to the cliff, and watched some of them briefly as they made their way down the stairs. He estimated Evan got a good 12 people per hour into the city. That meant if he worked as hard as he could, he'd get over 120 people into the city before the day was out. That meant that in a week's time, he could get about 840 people to the city, which meant in a month…

Hin brain rocketed on without him, calculating numbers he didn't even care about. He could get distracted so easily.

What really was bothering him was something else entirely. As the Doctor walked, he stopped distracting himself from it, and began to think it over.

Why was Evan doing this?

Sure, people do things for good reasons, but this Evan character was not a good person, no matter what false virtues he told everyone he had. There had to be another motive…

He came up blank. Right now he didn't know enough to figure it out. Why? It bothered him, a fly buzzing in his ears, and he quickly decided that calculating random numbers was a far better thing to do than worry over something that he couldn't solve yet any way.

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He came to the dome after a short while. At first, the Doctor just stood there, marveling over it. It was a beautiful, purposeful structure. It reminded him of the dome over Gallifrey.

Don't think about Gallifrey.

A group of fish swam towards him from his right. He watched them, found himself deeply entranced by their flickering scales. Their lives were so simple. So beautifully simple. They swam, they ate, they ran from a predator, just to continue to swim, and eat.

He wished he could be so simple. Here he was, a being who was so incredible old, he'd done so many terrible things, made so many wonderful things happen too. He could still remember each and every deed he'd ever done.

He tried to cancel out the biggest deed. But it was still there.

This city was like Gallifrey. He couldn't stand it.

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Eventually, he went back to Clara's house. He hoped she was ready to go by now. After all, it was, what? Noon? Maybe later?

He rang the doorbell. When no one answered, he rang it again, several times in fact, in rapid succession, like a small child ringing a doorbell when no one was answering fast enough.

No one answered.

He was getting worried. Clara would have been up by now. She should by all means, be scolding him about ringing the doorbell so many times in a row.

But she wasn't here.

The house was dark looking, when he stepped back and looked at it. It looked quite, too.

He stepped back, and yelled up at the house, where he knew the sound would carry on inside. "Clara! Come on! Get up!" He hoped that she had just had trouble falling asleep, and hadn't woken up yet.

But deep down, he knew that wasn't true.

The Doctor raced back to the door. He opened it, was surprised to find it wasn't locked, surprised to see it didn't even _have_ a lock. His note lay on the floor, untouched, and obviously unread.

He ran upstairs, all the time yelling for her. "Clara! This isn't funny!" He shouted as he ran into her room.

He stopped when he saw it. The broken glass on the floor. The shattered picture on the wall. The chair that had been pushed down in a small struggle. Other than that, the place was spotless. The bed wasn't slept in, nothing was out of place, except for the glass from the picture on the wall, and the chair that had fallen sideways.

There had been a struggle here. Someone come in, even before Clara had gotten to bed, and taken her away. She had tried to resist, but obviously there had been at least two attackers.

Now he knew why Clara hadn't answered the door. The entire first half of the day, he'd just assumed she was fine. He'd left, and carried on with his silly little thoughts, explored the most meaningless things in the city, watched the fish on the other side of the dome for at least half an hour. The entire time, he'd thought she was fine. He'd just assumed, and tossed the thought away until it was needed again.

The guilt welled up inside him. Two people had come in here and taken her, and he hadn't stopped them. He hadn't realized it had even _happened_ until an enormous amount of time later. He hadn't stopped the water either. Twice he hadn't been there. Would there even be a chance at a third time?

He still couldn't process it. Someone had taken Clara. Just like how someone or something had taken so many other people he had been responsible for.

He could already tell who'd sent them.

**A/N- First of all, let me apologize (Again) for my tardiness at getting this written. I've had an unbelievable amount of homework, but that's no excuse. I will try harder to get these written! :)**

**I've decided to put a little spin on this, if you couldn't already tell! I wanted a bit more… pizzazz! Yep, that's the word. I think I've begun writing the Doctor differently, but it's hard for me as an author to tell, so any notes you have for me would be greatly appreciated!**

**-Misty**


	13. Chapter 13

**Chapter 13- Deals**

He raced up the streets. All the people there, with those wide, unnatural smiles, stopped smiling when he passed them. They were all drugged. Dosed with that poison that he'd found.

He didn't pay any attention to them, didn't even care when he knocked over a man on the street. "Sorry!" He'd hastily shouted at the man, who was frowning crossly at him. But he hadn't stopped running. Couldn't stop running. Nothing was worth him stopping running.

It was always like this. Memories plagued him, tugging at this thoughts, making him shudder. It always ended this way. He hated himself sometimes. No matter what, it always ended like this. His friend, companion, amigo, associate, whatever you'd like to call it _always got into trouble_. And although most times he could save them, he knew that the instances he failed meant life and death.

Clara's death could not hang on the Doctor's conscience. It just could not. He wouldn't let it happen.

After a while more of running, he reached the stairs. These would slow him the most, considering how long it had taken him to walk _down_ them. But he didn't stop to speculate it, didn't stop to calculate the numbers. He just kept running.

As he climbed them, already sweating from ascent, he looked out over the city.

It was so much like Gallifrey, it hurt.

This city was a nightmare. He wondered why, briefly. It seemed like it'd been designed to remind him of Gallifrey. But that was impossible. Not many people knew of his existence, and even fewer knew of Gallifrey. And of those few, few elite people who knew of the planet he'd once called home, he couldn't name one person who knew what it looked like who'd fit Evan's description.

Evan knew something and he wasn't telling anyone. Possibly several somethings. The Doctor huffed as he climbed even more stairs. What was it? What could Evan possibly know that would make sense of this?

He decided to collect all the facts together.

Evan was keeping people prisoner here. His motives weren't what he said, that was for sure. He knew something but wouldn't tell. He'd drugged all the people in the city to be more compliant.

Why? None of the facts made sense. They didn't join together to form a common origin, or an enemy that would do this specifically. The Doctor just didn't know.

He hated not knowing. But at the same time he loved it, this elation he had at a mystery to be solved, at a puzzle no one had yet answered.

He reached the top of the stairs. But now the challenge of the Kamirian iron doors stood in his way.

The Doctor knew from experience that Kamirian iron was not to be trifled with. The experience had been painful, and rather embarrassing, albeit short. He'd tried to heat the iron, which had resulted with no fruits whatsoever, and then had tried to cool it back to normal so he could try something else on it.

Of course, the most obvious thing that he'd never foresaw happened. The iron, which had been very hot, went to very cold, and very quickly. This temperature change made the iron expand and contract, and it couldn't deal with the stress.

That was the funny thing about Kamirian iron. It didn't take stress well. It's reaction to expanding and contracting so much was about the equivalent of a person who despised change having the same, uninterrupted lifestyle for about 50 years, and then being made to go on a vacation to some random place they'd never heard of, and getting stranded there.

In other words, the iron had simply cracked, shuddered for a second or two, and then outright exploded.

Obviously it had been painful. The Doctor liked to think he'd learned from his mistakes. This was one of the more prominent mistakes he'd made.

He puzzled over the door for a while. Puzzling helped him relax, he realised. It seemed to slow his brain down to what might be considered normal.

He patted himself down, looking for something that might be of use. To his surprise, and happiness, he found his sonic screwdriver. He smiled. Evan didn't seem to know much about him if he forgot about the sonic.

He tried to sonic out on the door. The familiar buzzing filled the air, and slowly changed it's note as the Doctor adjusted it to different frequencies.

Nothing happened.

The Doctor tried again.

Nothing happened. Again.

He cursed. The door had a deadlock. Of course. Evan seemed to know of the sonic after all. And the things that didn't need locking, like the door of Clara's house, had been left without a lock.

After all, if you don't need to keep someone out of something, why bother locking it anyway?

The Doctor stood there, looking at the door. How would he get inside? He honestly had no idea. That was rare for him, having no idea.

A voice sounded from the inside of the door, followed by a click of the lock unlocking. The Doctor looked around, trying to find a place to hide, but there wasn't one. It was just a platform and some stairs. Nothing to hide under, behind, or climb up on to get out of view.

Perhaps this city was made for people like him. Evan seemed to predict his every move, laying out the city in a way that proved the most unhelpful.

So he decided to stand there, in the open. He put on his best grin, that manic like smile that spread from cheek to cheek. The grin usually put people off, but he didn't care all that much. It was the way he smiled. There was no helping it.

The door opened, and a new, soaking wet citizen stepped onto the platform, closely followed by Evan. The citizen, a middle aged man who had a rather bad case of balding, squinted in the light, unaccustomed to the brightness. He looked at the Doctor, and looked as though he might turn around and walk back into the cave, as the Doctor's grin was so odd.

In fact, Evan shooed him to the stairs, and just told him to go down them and ask questions later. Then he turned back to The Doctor.

Evan just smiled. "It's about time you showed up!" He said cheerily. "I was expecting you earlier, to be honest. Had a bit of a scare that you might've gotten into some trouble without my help."

"Where's Clara?" Were the only words that were on the Doctor's mind, so he said those. No point being indirect.

"Oh, don't worry. She's feeling better than she's been feeling in years." He opened the door wider, showing Clara standing there besides him. "Of course, happy couldn't describe it. After all, there's no emotions that she _can_ feel right now."

The Doctor looked over at Clara. She stood straight, almost like one would in the military. She didn't move a muscle, didn't sway, didn't even blink.

And on her neck blinked a faint mechanical light.

The Doctor swore.

Cybertech.

"What have you done to her?" He asked rigidly, not sure if he should try to sonic the technology, or if he should strangle Evan first. He chose just to stand there, stiff as a board, and try to talk his way out of it.

"I've upgraded her, as you can see." Evan said. "Doctor, you're memory is so fleeting. Don't you remember me?"

The Doctor looked at Evan. He looked hard and long, but couldn't place it. Where had he met this man before? He was sure he'd met him, after all, Evan recognized him, and The Doctor had a nagging sensation that he should know Evan too.

It all connected. The cybertech. How Evan knew all about him, knew the things in his head. Why Evan was so smart at putting all his knowledge to work in the schematic of the city.

Evan wasn't Evan.

"I'm surprised you don't remember, Doctor." Evan said quietly. "After all, we are _very_ much alike." He waited for the reaction.

The Doctor kept his steely gaze on Evan, despite the alarm bells ringing in his head. He didn't let his emotions slip, didn't take his mask down, but he knew who Evan was. And it was worse than he'd thought.

Evan smiled good naturedly, and went on. "I suppose you wouldn't know me by this name, or by this face. After all, I've gone through quite a few changes because of you." He spat on the ground. "My old name used to be Mr. Clever."

The alarm bells went from ear splitting to deafening in the second that name was uttered. "You- I _killed_ you-"

"No." Evan interrupted. "You just got rid of me. They'd already downloaded me into the system, the entire network of Cybermen. All my knowledge, and intellect, and wisdom, it's all in the Cybermen's network. You can never really kill me, Doctor, unless you kill every last bit of Cybertech in the entire universe." He smiled. "Which is basically impossible."

The Doctor closed his eyes. He let out a sigh that he'd kept inside for far too long. "And now what? Why are you doing this?" He looked down at the city gestured. "What's it all for?"

Evan raised an eyebrow. "I'm surprised you don't know, Doctor. Perhaps you're not as sharp as I remembered you."

The Doctor looked out over the city. The answer came immediately. "You're raising them for the slaughter." He said quietly. "But why only the good people, the people with consciences? Why them? Cybermen wouldn't care about, or know the difference."

"Not the good, Doctor, the _smart_." Evan cried. "The smart! Cybermen do not lack when it comes to brawn, believe me. But we do lack so much information. There's so much we have left to learn! Why, Clara here has already helped us advance when it comes to time-travel. Her seeing the interior of the Tardis helped us greatly in figuring out how to make one." He paused. "Of course, we're far from complete."

The Doctor bristled. This was not sounding good. "But these people, they aren't all so smart. They aren't physicists, or geologists, or anything! Why are you keeping them here then? It's not as if they're knowledge will benefit you that much."

"You still don't see it, do you?" Evan's voice became steely. "After Mr. Clever was transferred to this new body, we quickly realized that although the amount of information we'd obtained from you was massive, it still wasn't enough." He paused. "Think of this city, Doctor, not as a cage, to keep caught animals, but as the trap to catch them with."

His blood went cold. The Doctor froze. "This- is a trap." He murmured. "A trap, set for me? A trap specifically made for me?"

"Yes." Evan smiled softly. "It worked so well, too. You have to give me credit for that."

The Doctor stiffened even more. "You caused such a big problem on purpose." He said. "To get me to come and fix it, and get stuck in the city…" He trailed off, and then came back. "But you could've gotten me anytime you wanted. You could have uploaded me to the system at any time. Why haven't you yet? Why didn't you do it while I was asleep, or while I was weak, and infected with the virus?"

"Because." Evan said simply. "I like it better this way. This way, I can destroy you as much as you destroyed me." He smiled that good natured smile again, that soft smile that one would think could only come from an angel. "Do you have any idea, Doctor, how painful it was for me when you got rid of me, pulled me out of your head with that silly anti-cybertech technology you had? Any idea? Any at all?"

The Doctor remained quiet.

"It felt like a thousand fires were boiling my blood into steam, and it felt like that steam turned into magma and poured into my head." Evan's eyes turned a dark, brooding gray. "And when it was done, when I was finally done with the pain of that horrible instance, they put me into another body. And when they did that, it felt like a block of ice was inside my chest, eating away at me until I went numb."

He looked up, his eyes glistening madly. "Do you know, Doctor, what it is like to be in so much pain you cannot think? That all you can do is _scream_, except of course that you can't scream, because you don't have a body?" His frown deepened. "What it's like when there's so much pain, you can't process it, and it continues on, and on, and on, until you feel like it's been infinity, and it's going to keep going?"

The Doctor shook his head. He'd never really thought it that far, what it'd be like to get dragged out of someone's head like he'd done to Mr. Clever.

"And when it was done," Evan went on, his eyes hollow. "When I could finally think again, I swore that I would destroy you inch by inch. That I would make you feel the same pain."

The Doctor closed his eyes, and decided to speak. "So what now? You're going to upgrade me, and then make me transfer bodies, just to feel that pain that you felt? What?"

"No." Evan whispered. "That's far too easy."

"What are you going to do then?" The Doctor asked, a bad feeling settling in the pit of his stomach.

"I'll offer you a trade." Evan said. "There's so much useless information that races have. They have information on books, and movies, and plays. None of it is of much use, of course, but sometimes it can be very helpful." He kicked a rock off the edge of the platform, watched it tumble down the cliff. "In many of those plays and movies and books, one person gives themself up for another. Those acts and literature and whatnot speak volumes about how emotional pain is so much _greater_ than physical pain. That's why, I suppose, the Cybermen got rid of emotions long ago." He looked at the dome. "Except me. I don't know why. They just left me like I was when I was uploaded. Sometimes I wish they hadn't though."

Evan turned. "But anyway, I'd like to propose a trade. And I think it'd destroy you if you give yourself up."

"Well then." The Doctor tried his cocky grin, but failed. "What's the deal?" Although he already knew it, he asked the question.

"Clara can go free." Evan said simply. "But you stay behind."

The Doctor stood still, and took a deep breath. He'd known this was coming. From the moment Evan had mentioned a trap, he'd known.

"Alright then." He said, concealing the fact that the alarms in his head had gone from ear splitting to deafening to outright deadly loud. "But how do I know you'll honor the deal?"

"Here comes the fun part." Evan said happily. "You personally transport her to the surface, and let the TARDIS take her back. However, you have to take her back, leave her there, and then take the TARDIS back here."

The Doctor groaned inwardly. There didn't seem to be any loop holes here. "Fine." He said, the anger spilling out into his words finally. "Fine. Transport us to the surface then."

"My pleasure." Evan said. He went over to Clara, and pressed a few buttons on the cybertech on her neck. Then he took it off, as easily as if it had been a simple scarf, or jewelry piece.

Clara snapped to reality. "-Doctor!" She said apparently finishing the sentence she'd been saying right before she'd been upgraded.

"There you go!" Evan smirked, and then clicked a few more buttons on another bit of machinery.

"How do you know I'll honor my word?" The Doctor asked, as Evan clicked a few more buttons, and Clara edged as far from Evan as possible.

"I know you Doctor. After all, we're almost one and the same."

He pushed one last button. The Doctor and Clara felt a rushing sensation, as if they were in a wind tunnel. And then, they found themselves outside the TARDIS.

He stood there, looking at those marvelous blue doors. Clara stood off to the side, still catching up. Apparently she couldn't remember anything.

"Doctor?" She asked tentatively, and reached out and put a hand on his shoulder. "What are we doing? We haven't stopped Evan yet."

He stood there, staring at those blue doors. He snapped his fingers, the doors opened. "Oh, yes. Evan." He realized he was only vaguely there, but he continued on. "We need to get something from your time to solve this problem." The lie came easily.

Clara looked at him, clearly not believing him, but knowing somehow to do as he asked. The one glance told him everything. He'd learned her expressions to well, and she'd learned his. She knew exactly when he was lying, and he knew when she knew.

"Okay." She took her hand from his shoulder and went into the TARDIS.

The Doctor looked out at the lake for a while. He closed his eyes, stepped into the TARDIS, and the marvelous blue box gave out that ethereal sound, and disappeared.

And a few seconds later, it came back, one passenger gone.

**A/N- Whew! REALLY long chapter! For those who despise long chapters, sorry, but my muse finally came back and made me write a good 3,000 words straight. XD**

**I got the idea for Mr. Clever half way through the story, to be honest. I originally had only planned for there to be a contagious virus, and to have a city below in the lake, ran by Evan. But then I realised all the similarities, and figured out what would make an especially good story. :) And when the muse struck, I was off writing!**

**Anyway, thank you for bearing with me through this chapter! I know it was a good 3 times longer than my normal chapters, but whatever. :) I hope you enjoyed! And if you found something wrong, feel free to tell me in the comments!**

**-Misty**


	14. Chapter 14

**Chapter 14- Left**

Somewhere, on Earth, you could have seen someone crying.

Why were they crying? Who were they, anyway? That was what people would ask if they saw it.

But no one could see it. The Doctor had planned it all out. He'd dropped Clara off in a remote area, next to a road so she could get to the city, but too far away from anyone to make a scene.

The Doctor had looked at her. "Come on. We'll just be a minute. Then it'll be back to Venen."

Clara had followed, peeved about not being briefed about what happened. "Doctor. Doctor!" She shouted when he paid her no mind. "You still haven't told me what happened! What are we doing here?"

He turned around. "Saving you. That's what."

Clara was confused. "Saving me? From what? I'm perfectly safe, clever boy." She said, angry in the last part.

The Doctor smiled gently, although he didn't feel at all like smiling. "Evan had implanted some cyber technology in you. It took a bit, but I persuaded him to let you go." The last bit was only a half truth. It had been more of a deal than an act of kindness on Evan's part.

"Then what are we doing here?" Clara asked again. She stayed by the TARDIS. She knew him too well to step away. She knew how he might fly off without her, for her own good.

"Getting supplies." The Doctor lied. "We need supplies." It was short, and to the point, and not at all like him, and Clara knew it.

"Doctor, what are we really doing here?" She asked softly, some anger at being lied to hidden in her voice.

The Doctor looked at the TARDIS. He'd already programmed the coordinates back to Venen in. He sighed, shook his head, and took Clara's hand and led her away from the TARDIS, where he knew she'd stand until he told her the truth.

"What are we doing, Doctor." It wasn't a question anymore. Her voice was steely, and angry at not being told the truth, and she wasn't asking. She was demanding an honest answer.

She deserved it, after all she'd been through.

But the honest answer was something that she'd never agree with. So he had to lie.

"We need lemonade." The first thing that popped into his mind. He was thirsty, after all.

"Lemonade?"

"Yes, lemons, lemonade, soury-ish stuff…" Made up words and random subjects. He didn't know why he even tried lying. It almost never worked.

"Then why are we here?" Clara looked around. Lots of country, and a road stretching off into the distance. No lemonade though. "You're still lying." She said simply.

"Yeah, I know. Lying…. lying isn't exactly my area." He said vacantly.

"Why are you lying, then?" She decided to pursue a different question.

"Because the truth is worse." He looked at her, at her face, for the first real time in a long while. Or, at least, it felt like a long while.

"Well then, let us forget about the truth for a bit." She smiled, a short, sad smile that meant that she was close to crying. "What are we doing here, then?" She knew what was coming. She knew exactly what.

"We're just going to stand here, and see the view." The Doctor lied. She knew it was a lie. They both knew, and they both knew that the other realized it.

They stood there, and looked at the view, just like he'd said. Then, without a word, he turned around and left, back to the TARDIS.

The Doctor paused at the door. He turned, and looked back at the figure, still standing there, stiff with the sadness it was fending off. He tried to memorize it. To remember everything about this person, this person he was going to leave behind.

It always ended like this. He had to leave them, or else they got hurt. But leaving them there, never to see him again was almost as bad as watching them die.

The problems with being a Timelord. He'd never hear the end of them.

Clara crossed her arms, shut her eyes tight, and didn't turn around as the humming sound began. It turned into a whooshing, and that sound that she could never fully identify, never fully. It was a sound unto itself.

The sound faded, the TARDIS gone, back to Venen. Clara still there, hurt, and alone.

Clara Oswald never cried. Never. She could only remember a small number of times she had ever even shed one tear. She kept everything welled up inside of her.

She never cried. And she didn't cry now. Two, maybe three tears is hardly enough to call crying.

But if you did call that crying, then for once, silently, and with absolute anger at herself for letting her grip on that mask of nonchalance slip, Clara Oswald cried.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX XXXXXX

Evan smiled when the Doctor stormed back into the room.

Well, stormed wouldn't exactly describe it. Appeared was a better word.

The TARDIS appeared (Yes, that was the word, he decided) near the large iron doors. He watched as the Doctor stepped out.

Evan raised an eyebrow when he saw the Doctor. There were several, conflicting emotions written over his face. Evan was no expert on emotions. He was a cyber planner, after all. Anything cyber didn't have emotions. Of course, he assumed he was slightly defective. He would feel some emotions, sometimes. When he'd feel some, they were always only hate, or anger. Sometimes, if he was lucky, happiness. He felt happy right now.

Happy at the Doctor's pain. Happy that he'd ruined everything for Clara. Happy, in general, because of this marvelous plot he'd made, and how it had worked.

It working was a small miracle in and of itself.

"Are you all right, Doctor?" He asked sarcastically.

The Doctor was silent. "Now what?" He asked after the pause.

"We upgrade you to a cyber planner, of course." Evan said simply.

"Of course."

"Yes. I wonder how you creatures put up with it, sometimes. All those terrible emotions." He spat the word like it was a curse. "Cybermen have found the answer though. No more pain like what you suffer from now."

The Doctor looked down at the floor, feeling beaten, and altogether horrible. He'd failed miserably. He _never_ failed. But this time he had. He might as well go in peace then. "Yes, okay." He said simply.

"Then let us begin." Evan smiled manically, and picked up the first piece of cybertech.

No one noticed, just off to the side, a hologram of an ex-archeologist, time-traveler, a part Timelord standing there, with frizzy hair and a thick white coat. She frowned when she saw this, this cyber planner preparing to upgrade the man that was her husband.

If someone had noticed her, however, they'd have seen how in the next second, she disappear, vanished with the blink of an eye.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX XXXXXX

Clara hugged herself as she walked down the road. A few cars had passed, none willing to pick up a hitchhiker.

She wondered how long she'd been walking. A few minutes, or an hour? She didn't know. The country looked the same. She figured someone would pick her up eventually.

Something flickered to existence near the corner of her vision. An ex-archeologist, time-traveler, a part Time Lord standing there, with frizzy hair and a thick white coat. She flickered, making it evident that she was a hologram.

Clara knew exactly who this was.

And she had never been so thankful in her entire life.

"Professor Song!" She said. "Where's the Doctor? Is he alright?"

River shook her head slowly as she walked up. "No. I'm able to access history in the Library's database, so I can be projected anywhere, anytime. I managed to hack in, and now you can see me when I do this. I just saw the Doctor, too. Things aren't looking up."

Clara was stunned. The Doctor always managed to get away. Now River was telling her that he couldn't? "How'd you hack in?" She asked slowly. The Doctor had told her about the Library. It seemed like it would be harder to hack than what River was making out.

"Oh, you know." River smiled, that mysterious smile, that smile that made you think she could topple the world and not give a second glance. She probably could, too. "Twist a few dials, push a couple buttons."

Clara frowned. She decided to skip it. It was obvious River wouldn't be telling her anything she didn't want to right now.

She was about to say something, when River spoke up.

"Clara," She said, "I need you to do something for me. To save the Doctor."

"It's important." River said, hushed.

Clara looked at her, and consented to do as River asked. "What do you need me to do?"

**A/N- Yeah, I know. Some of it is stupid, most of it is soppy, and I have a feeling there's some plot holes I missed.**

**Oh well! :) I had lots of fun writing it, it helped pass the time today. :\**

**And I had to throw River in. She's just too awesome to skip! :) River Song, one of the most complicated characters of all time! Or, at least, in my book.**

**Anyway, enough babbling! XD I hope you enjoyed reading it as much as I enjoyed writing it. If you find anything wrong with it, just let me know, and I'll try to change it.**

**-Misty**


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